Controlled induction motor drives without mechanical speed sensors at the motor shaft have the attractions of low cost and high reliability. To replace the sensor the information on the rotor speed is extracted from measured stator voltages and currents at the motor terminals. Vector-controlled drives require estimating the magnitude and spatial orientation of the fundamental magnetic flux waves in the stator or in the rotor. Open-loop estimators or closed-loop observers are used for this purpose. They differ with respect to accuracy, robustness, and sensitivity against model parameter variations. Dynamic performance and steady-state speed accuracy in the low-speed range can be achieved by exploiting parasitic effects of the machine. The overview in this paper uses signal flow graphs of complex space vector quantities to provide an insightful description of the systems used in sensorless control of induction motors.

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Sensorless control of induction motor drives

Controlled induction motor drives without mechanical speed sensors at the motor shaft have the attractions of low cost and high reliability. To replace the sensor, information on the rotor speed is extracted from measured stator currents and from voltages at motor terminals. Vector-controlled drives require estimating the magnitude and spatial orientation of the fundamental magnetic flux waves in the stator or in the rotor. Open-loop estimators or closed-loop observers are used for this purpose. They differ with respect to accuracy, robustness, and sensitivity against model parameter variations. Dynamic performance and steady-state speed accuracy around zero speed range are achieved by signal injection, exploiting the anisotropic properties of the machine. The overview in this paper uses signal flow graphs of complex space vector quantities to provide an insightful description of the systems used in sensorless control of induction motors.

Sensorless Control of Induction Machines&#8212;With or Without Signal Injection?

The performance of sensorless-controlled induction motors is poor at very low speed. The reasons are the limited accuracy of stator voltage acquisition and the presence of offset and drift components in the acquired signals. To overcome these problems, a pure integrator is employed for stator flux estimation. The time-variable DC offset voltage is estimated from the flux drift in a parallel stator model and used to eliminate the offset by feedforward control. Residual high-frequency disturbances are compensated by feedback flux amplitude control. A linearization of the pulsewidth-modulation inverter transfer function and an improved stator resistance estimation scheme further enhance the system performance. Experiments demonstrate high dynamic performance of sensorless control at extreme low speed and zero stator frequency.

/pdf/drift-and-parameter-compensated-flux-estimator-for-2x2pxmolbr.pdf

Drift and parameter compensated flux estimator for persistent zero stator frequency operation of sensorless controlled induction motors

High frequency carrier injection is a promising approach solving high performance sensorless drive demands. Position control at low and zero speed is only possible using anisotropic effects considered in high-frequency models. The usually open loop carrier signal injection is impacted by nonlinear inverter properties like the dead-time effect. This paper discusses the influence of the dead time effect on the carrier signal excitation comparing alternating and revolving injection principles. To overcome disturbing effects an alternating injection procedure is proposed using a predefined injection angle. The approach reduces the effects of the inverter distortion voltages. As a result it is possible to track even small saliencies typical for surface mounted permanent magnet synchronous machines. For processing the high frequency current for position estimation, there is no additional hardware necessary within a standard drives with field oriented control. The paper presents theoretical analysis and experimental results.

/pdf/sensorless-speed-and-position-control-of-synchronous-3g8l535o5v.pdf

Sensorless speed and position control of synchronous machines using alternating carrier injection

This paper addresses the problem of wide speed-range sensorless control of a surface-mount permanent-magnet (SMPM) machine including zero-speed operation. A hybrid structure integrating a flux observer and signal-injection techniques is proposed, which results in a rotor position signal independent of motor parameters at low and zero speed. Although the SMPM machine typically has a very low geometric saliency, the injection technique is effective in tracking the saturation-induced saliency produced by the stator flux. Experimental results are presented showing an excellent performance for both the sensorless speed and position control using an off-the-shelf SMPM machine.

Hybrid rotor position observer for wide speed-range sensorless PM motor drives including zero speed

This paper presents an automated commissioning procedure used for the elimination of the saturation saliency effects in the sensorless position control of field-orientated cage induction motor drives. The position control itself is based on extracting a rotor position estimate from a high-frequency signal injection interacting with natural or engineered rotor position saliencies within the machine. The paper shows that this estimate cannot be robustly or accurately obtained if saturation saliencies are present. The paper introduces a method for suppressing the effects of the saturation saliency through information gained in a prior commissioning procedure. The effectiveness of the procedure is demonstrated through experimental results showing both good suppression of the saturation harmonics and true sensorless position control under high load torques.

K.J. Bradley

Papers

Suppression of saturation saliency effects for the sensorless position control of induction motor drives under loaded conditions